Blog Post: Hydration

Water…did you know your body is 75% water and 25% solid matter?  Our brains are about 85% water.  When fully hydrated our blood is about 94% water.  It’s scary to think of what all is affected when we dehydrate our bodies and even though we may not do it purposely and just a little each day, let’s think about what is lacking because of this small hydration problem when our brains are 85% water and we are basically depriving it of its full potential.  I wonder how many symptoms we may have pop up during the day as “warnings” when it’s really our bodies telling us to give it more water.  We are familiar with the headache, dry lips, and itchy scalp when we aren’t giving our body’s hydration, but knowing that we are all different what other problems are we each experiencing that could be telling us the same thing.

Years ago I read a great book by F. Batmangehlidj called You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty! Those were probably the days I did nothing but hydrate my body with alcohol and soft drinks.  I’d like to think I know better these days, but some days that truly isn’t the case and although I may not fill up on sugary drinks, I may have a cup of hot tea in the morning and get so busy I forget to fill my water bottle and take it with me.  Personally, I typically get headaches, my lips start feeling dry, I feel exhausted & sluggish and have no motivation.  In his book, Batmangehlidj believes any of the following can signal dehydration:
1. Feeling tired without a plausible reason.
2. Feeling Flushed
3. Feeling irritable and unreasonably  short-tempered
4. Feeling anxious
5. Feeling dejected and inadequate
6. Feeling depressed
7. Feeling heavy-headed
8. Disturbed sleep, particularly in the elderly
9. Anger and quick temper
10. Unreasonable impatience
11. Very short attention span
12. Shortness of breath in an otherwise healthy person.
13. Cravings for manufactured beverages such as coffee, tea, sodas, and alcoholic drinks
It’s amazing how many of those symptoms have to do with our brain, but if we are dehydrated and our brain is mainly made up of water, it makes sense why.

Typically the first place to show dehydration is our skin, showing up as dry and dull skin. Our cells are comprised of water, so think about them being filled with less water, because you aren't hydrating your body enough to fill those cells to capacity.   This severely affects how your skin looks.  Think about your face and how much it’s exposed to sun, wind and other environmental elements that the rest of your body is typically covered in.  This also enhances water loss, but by keeping our skin hydrated from within we can help our skin out.

The difference between dry skin and dehydration is this, dryness is a shortage of moisture on the skin and dehydration is a lack of moisture in the skin.  Where do you think dry skin starts?  Make sure you are properly lubricating your skin from the inside just like your daily ritual of putting moisturizers on your skin.

Drinking enough water is key to keeping your skin healthy.  Not only can water make wrinkles less noticeable, but it also increases blood flow and reduces toxins.

Drink up!

What are symptoms you have when you haven’t drank enough water?  How do you keep track and make sure your body is hydrated daily?